Women and Asian Religions by Kassam Zayn R.;

Author:Kassam, Zayn R.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, LLC
Published: 2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00

Following Miranda Shaw, the discussion will primarily focus on the agency of women by concentrating on how women act and view themselves rather than how they are acted upon and viewed by the institution. This concept of agency fits very well with the practitioners interviewed below as none of them see themselves as being victims of institutional or doctrinal discrimination, yet they all recognize the tension that exists in Buddhism between what the scriptures state and how the institutions have developed. In effect, these women practitioners view themselves as independent agents that are capable of transforming not only themselves but also their respective traditions. In regard to the role and status of women in Buddhism, this is perhaps one of the key reorientations of Buddhist practice in the West.1

Traditionally, Buddhist meditative practice was undertaken by the ordained sangha (community of monks), but with the advent of the transmission of Buddhism to the West, the lines between monastic and lay practice increasingly intersect in ways that are not found in traditional Buddhism. In “modern”2 Buddhism, lay female practitioners take on not only practices traditionally performed by the sangha but also institutional roles that were traditionally held by the monks. The blurring of the ordained/lay boundary also serves to weaken the structures of traditional, primarily male, monastic hierarchies in which monks were held to be spiritually superior to nuns. This shift is illustrative of Western ideas of a more egalitarian approach to institutional hierarchies and social roles.

The general Western emphasis on egalitarianism in terms of hierarchical structure is an operational factor in driving the changing roles of women within Western Buddhist institutional structures. This emphasis on egalitarianism not only opens up opportunities for the advancement of women in institutional roles but also grants credence to the full spiritual potential of women. The spiritual potential of women in Buddhism is a contentious issue that cannot be easily solved by turning to scripture. Buddhist scripture, in both the Theravāda and the Mahāyāna traditions, offers no consistent position on the status and spiritual potential of women.3

Claudia Romberg breaks these inconsistencies down into three general attitudes:

That female rebirth is a result of negative karma accumulated in a past life.

That Buddha was a male; therefore, a male rebirth or a sexual transformation is necessary for women.

That gender is irrelevant for salvation in the sense that gender is one of the traits of the ego, which needs to be transcended.4

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.